"The Marine Corps continues to monitor the Air Force-led Light Attack Experiment to procure a cost-effective, observation and attack (OA-X) air platform for employment in permissive environments, with the intent to employ such an asset as a joint force capability," said Capt. Christopher Harrison of the Office of Marine Corps Communication at the Pentagon.

"The SASC's decision to authorize $100 million for a light attack platform is only reflected in a policy bill," Harrison said in an email Friday. "Nothing has been appropriated to this program yet," he said.

"I think there's a strong case for the Marines, or the Air Force, or both, having a few dozen light attack planes, if only for joint training and even combat missions with allied militaries in much poorer nations," Aboulafia told Military.com on Wednesday.

Lawmakers and a few Pentagon officials have made the case for light attack — especially in the context of the Air Force's ongoing experiment with light attack platforms — saying the smaller planes could come in handy to offset the cost to taxpayers to put a few fifth-generation fighters in the air, sometimes in support of missions for which the advanced jets are far overqualified.

For example, Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson this week reiterated it is silly to use a stealth fighter like the F-22 Raptor to take on Taliban drug labs. In November, the Raptor made its combat debut in Afghanistan, targeting suspected narcotics facilities in the country with small-diameter bombs.

For the correct mission set, light attack makes sense for any service, Aboulafia argued. But purchasing an entire fleet, he said, would be unjustifiable, since the aircraft's warfighting capabilities are significantly limited, and best suited to low-risk missions and training with allies and partners.

"What kind of scenario would call for that? It postulates a giant failed state, or series of failed states, where the US is compelled to intervene, and yet there's absolutely no air-to-air and only a minimal ground-to-air threat," Aboulafia said.

He added, "If there's either of those, this type of plane is a great way to kill pilots. And if this giant, under-armed failed-state intervention doesn't materialize, the military is stuck with hundreds of planes that have zero relevance to any other kind of strategic contingency."

While it seems the Marine Corps has time before it makes a decision on how it can or will proceed, the Air Force is currently in the middle of choosing a future light attack platform.

A Textron Scorpion experimental aircraft at Holloman Air Force Base, July 31, 2017. US Air Force Photo by Christopher Okula

The Air Force selected two aircraft — Textron Aviation AT-6 Wolverine and the Sierra Nevada/Embraer A-29 Super Tucano — to undergo more demonstration fly-offs, among other exercises, at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico.

The demonstrations began May 7 and will run through July, with the secretary herself expected to fly either or both aircraft at Holloman.

The Senate Armed Services Committee, in its fiscal 2019 proposal, added $350 million to procure a future light attack aircraft.